A/N: OH MY GOD. SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. i suppose things aren't going to go as fast as they used to. But the story is still going, so don't worry about it ending prematurely. We have every intention of getting this done. :3 anywho, I would like to thank Keyblade132 and Smashgunner for the fave and follow! glad you all are still enjoying this! even with the wait. I also reread this story myself and found quite a few mistakes and typos. Expect a fix for them some time. No guarantee. BUT for major mistakes such as omissions, then yeah, I'll fix them.

So, that said, I won't hold you any longer. Sit back and relax and read the latest and last chapter of 2019. HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D

Arcana of Tricks
The Surgeon and the Rebel
Chapter Twenty-Two: Liminal

It was somewhere between twenty and forty minutes later when the group heard Joker's heels clicking on the floor. As they looked, they saw him and Fox jogging through the entrance to the room towards them. The shadows who remained alive, yet heavily injured, completely avoided them. It took a good minute for them to reach the group, but they did.

Joker's cane looked as good as new.

Flowey perked up slightly upon seeing Joker and Fox, particularly the former. He bit his lip. "You okay, Joker?"

He nodded with a grin as they ran over, the other Thieves standing up to greet him. He gave the new cane an idle swing around his finger before clutching the hilt. "Fixed it up perfectly."

Fox crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one foot. "Though I'm admittedly not sure how."

Flowey wasn't sure, but something was off. Like something was missing. But he took Joker's word for it and smiled back. "Alright! let's continue then. The door is right in front of us."

And it was indeed, waiting for someone to stand by it. The screens were dim, not letting in much light.

Joker nodded. He glanced at Skull and Fox as the rest of the gang joined him. Skull hefted his pipe over his shoulder. "Ready when you are."

"Indeed," Noir added with a nod. "We've spent far too long here. Let us continue!"

Joker nodded again with a grin. Hooking his thumb in one pocket, he turned and walked to the door. As the group followed, Queen turned to Oracle. "Any traps from here on out, Oracle?"

The next room was a safe room, it seemed, so there weren't any traps. And then there was the clinic. Not really any traps either, but Flowey would be needed somewhere. Speaking of Tide, he tilted his head at Joker, a sad smile on his face. Before he shook it away.

Oracle shook her head, accidentally smacking Flowey with her hair. "Nope! no traps! just the safe room. After that, the last building."

Flowey coughed out bits of hair, shaking his head to recover. Queen shifted her weight to one foot as she crossed her arms. "That would be some part of the clinic, wouldn't it? probably the operating room or the patient rooms. So then would that make the safe room the waiting room?"

At that, Joker started walking. The rest of the group followed. Skull hefted his pipe over his shoulder again. "Maybe it's the doorway."

"Or an employee's only room," Mona added as they approached the door.

The door soon opened for them all, and the same park to which Asgore had taken Joker and Eduardo was revealed, dreary and dark, but it felt.. safe, besides the clinic looming in the distance, broken and rundown. Flowey shuddered just staring at it. "I can tell we're getting close to the end, guys."

They were surprised when there wasn't a tunnel, stepping into a small clearing. Joker held a hand out to stop the others for a moment. He glanced to either side before looking back to Oracle. She gave an enthusiastic thumbs up before patting Flowey's head, to which he stifled a few purrs. With that, Joker stuck his hands in his pockets and walked in further, the others following suit. "Funny," he murmured to himself.

Fox glanced around the various plants. "A lovely place. If only I'd brought my sketchbook."

"This palace has been rather small," Noir commented as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Yet it feels like it's taken so long. Are we really close to the end?"

Mona hopped over to Joker. He stared intently at the clinic. "We're near the treasure. I can sense it."

"Good…" the demon plant tore his gaze away from his clinic, instead focusing on the dreary park before them. "If you want to rest, now's the chance."

Skull hefted his pipe over both shoulders and draped his hands over it. "Hell yeah, I'd like a rest."

"Agreed," Fox said. "I wouldn't mind resting here for an hour or two. Or perhaps completing this infiltration on another day."

Queen, however, shook her head. "We can't afford to, Fox. We don't know when our deadline is, remember?"

Meanwhile, Joker just continued to look around the area. Why was this the safe room? he would have thought it'd be part of the clinic. A part Eduardo couldn't control. Why the park, which might not be anywhere near Flowey's clinic?

Why was this place significant, yet not a place Eduardo held sway over?

Flowey gazed at Joker, tilting his head. With this quiet, he could tell something perhaps troubled him. So he asked, raising an eyebrow, "You have any questions, Joker?"

This would be the right time to ask.

At that, the team all looked to Joker. He continued staring at the edges of the park. Then eh turned back to them. "Why this place?"

Noir clasped her hands together. "Maybe he finds this park relaxing. It's quite calm."

Skull looked at her. "Yeah, but I don't exactly remember seein' this place passin' by."

"He might consider it part of the clinic." Mona then crossed his paws, tail swishing. "Bu he definitely considers it close enough to appear here. And significant. No doubt something happened for him to consider it an important space he can't control." Then, Mona looked up at Flowey. "What do you think, Tide?"

Flowey rubbed at his chin, remembering what Asgore told him. He recounted what he said. "Asgore had taken him near the park where the televisions played Papyrus's speech…" the demon plant's eyes widened slightly as he spoke this next line a bit slowly with realization dawning on his tone. "He didn't think he got through to Eduardo, but I think this is proof that he did…" He frowned a bit, "albeit slightly."

Arsene looked to Flowey, remembering that bit as well. "Arsene and I put him in his place there." He wondered how much of the effect had been Papyrus's speech, and how much had been his intimidation.

"Well, whether Papyrus got through to Eduardo or not, that incident certainly affected him," Mona pointed out. He kept his paws crossed. "At the least, it made a powerful impression on him. That here, he's powerless. And that's a good enough opportunity for us."

Skull turned to Mona. "Whatever the case, we gotta wrap this up soon."

The cat twitched his tail.

Oracle replied first. "Yeah, which means we need to find the treasure location as soon as possible."

Joker nodded as Mona added, "We haven't secured the route yet."

Then Joker added a quiet, "We need a quiet entrance." And hopefully a stealthy one.

Flowey looked at his clinic again, frowning. He couldn't bear seeing it like this. At all. "There's a back entrance… it's staff-only though. Leads into the kitchen."

However, judging by the state of his building, his secondary home, there might not even be a back door anymore.

Joker nodded at that.

Queen, however, was the one to comment, "Then we should send someone to go check and see if it's open." Then she looked to Flowey. "You'll go with them. It's your clinic, right? if anyone could get the staff-only door to open, it's you."

"I can take him," Noir volunteered, clasping her hands together around her axe.

Skull shifted his feet. "I'll go. I'm the fastest. If anyone can outrun trouble that'd spring on us," then with a teasing smirk, "and keep the weed safe," before it vanished, "it's me."

Flowey wasn't impressed, narrowing his eyes slightly. "...now you're officially Sans.." He also stuck his tongue out for a bit, but this action was more playful than anything.

"Ay!" Skull leaned forward as he stomped a foot. "At least I'm offerin'!" But before Joker could try and calm him, Skull leaned back. That outburst had been equal parts messing around and actual irritation. He stepped over to Flowey, waiting for him to climb onto his shoulder. "Ya comin' or not, weed?"

"Pleeease don't call me that…" the flower groaned, but nonetheless slithered off Oracle and clambered onto Skull's shoulder.

"Alright," Skull half-whined. As he started walking to the other side, "I was just teasin' ya, Tide." He lowered his pipe as he broke into a jog. Off to the other side of the clinic for them.

While they did that, Joker strode over to the edge of the park. If they couldn't find anything, the group would need another entrance. That would most likely be at the front.

"Yeah.. I know," the demon plant frowned apologetically. "It just reminds me of a time when.. things weren't okay." He scoured the building with his eyes. They weren't at the back yet, and his clinic was a pretty long building to accommodate for everything.

Skull glanced at him. When things weren't "okay". When things were bad. Really bad. He could read that much from the pause. It sounded like Flowey had as rough a life as the rest of them. Or maybe worse.

Possibly as bad as Crow's life. If it reminded him of a time when things weren't okay, that meant this time was more okay. Dealing with Eduardo was better than before. What had Flowey been through?

"Must'a been bad for all this to be 'okay'. 'That why you suggested Bud before?"

Flowey noticeably drooped. "...Bud was the first thing Sans called me when we finally put what happened in the Underground behind us. It.. was a pun," which he somewhat despised, kinda like Papyrus did, "but it was better than him calling me a weed."

What happened? Flowey had described the Underground as a prison, but he hadn't mentioned anything happening specifically between him and others that Skull could recall. He glanced at Flowey for a moment. "I guess that makes sense. 'Take it some shit went down 'tween you two before that? Fights, I'll bet. Good to put it behind ya, though. Makes ya feel free."

To say Skull hit it right on the head was an underestimation. He ended up nodding, and smiling slightly. "Yeah, it's pretty good."

Soon, they approached the back of the building, and thankfully, there was a back door, marked Staff Only. And there were a few specific prints it needed to be open, though only one would be needed. A living leaf or vine, a human hand of one of the staff, or one boss monster paw.

Skull slowed to a stop in front of the door. He shifted his weight to one foot. "Whaddaya know, there is a back door." He leaned in to try and examined what he figured was a handprint scanner. "Does some staff have a hand that looks like that?"

Elsewhere, the group heard Skull mention the door over their earpieces. Joker looked to Oracle. "What's it take?"

Oracle read data through her goggles. "Just need someone with a matching hand. Or leaf."

"Tide would be able to open it, right?" Noir posed, clasping her hands together. "He works here."

Joker habitually put a hand over his ear. "We'll meet you there."

Red Tide could hear everything they said, and he thought it was rather weird. He had to keep reminding himself of the earbuds. And then he posed a question, raising a leaf, intending to put it on the scanner. "Should I open the door now or wait for the others to arrive?"

Queen was the one to answer as the gang got moving. "Wait for us. We don't know if it'll be timed, or how long it'll take before people realize it's opened."

"Okay," he brought his leaf back down, choosing to wait for the rest to get here. He hummed as well, quietly and to himself.

The group ran over, towards which Oracle made no attempt to hide her contempt. At least between breaths. Mona kicked up clouds of dust. Queen had to help Fox on his feet toward the end. When they got there, Joker took a few deep breaths. Then he turned to check on Fox, who held up a hand. "I just.. need to catch my breath."

He wasn't used to running so much in one go. At least he wouldn't need long. Joker turned to Oracle who had squatted on the ground. Her panting was loud enough everyone else could hear it. She held up one finger. They'd need a second, so Joker looked to the scanner. Then past it. He wanted at least a look in, know what to expect. Hopefully no enemies inside, or at least know if there were.

A few good seconds passed before Oracle pulled herself up. "Okay," she managed. "I'll live."

With that, Joker looked to Skull with intent in his eyes. Skull glanced at Flowey with a grin. He knew what that look meant. He'd been around Joker long enough to learn the subtle differences in his eyes. "A'ight, Tide, go 'n open the door for us."

"Got it…" he pursed his lips and took a deep breath, before he placed his leaf on the scanner with his print on it. It registered as clear, shining green, and the door clicked open, sliding away on its own.

A/N: Hello again. :3 We're close to the end of infiltration. I hope you're ready for what's gonna come next. Well, of course you are. xD Clock was Joker, Queen, Noir, Skull, Fox, Oracle, Mona, and I had Red Tide/Flowey. Skull and Flowey had quite the insightful conversation, didn't they? well, there's more of that coming! so yeah. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a Happy New Year! god, I still can't believe 2019 is ending...